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February 02, 2026
 

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Nithin Coca
A solar farm in Nakai, Kanagawa Prefecture, in March 2016. Japan gets about a tenth of its electricity from solar panels despite having nearly no domestic production of photovoltaics (PVs).
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jan 18, 2026
Beijing row highlights need for Japan to reduce cleantech dependence on China
To reach net zero, Japan will need to rapidly expand renewables, but its solar manufacturing capacity is virtually non-existent despite it being a pioneer of the technology.
A technician works on the assembly line at a solar panel manufacturing hub on the outskirts of New Delhi last October.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jul 27, 2025
Amid fossil fuel shift in U.S., hope emerges for India and Japan tie-up on solar
As the Trump administration shifts back to gas and coal, solar power stakeholders in Japan and India are seeking new ways to collaborate.
Tugboats assist a liquified natural gas tanker as it docks at a port in Yantai, China, in February. In 2021, China became the largest importer of LNG, and as of this year, China now has the most long-term LNG contracts.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jun 1, 2025
China is eroding Japan's LNG dominance. How does that affect Japanese buyers?
Japanese companies have long held the leading position in the buying and trading of one of the world's key energy sources, but that era of hegemony has come to an end.
Solar panels and wind turbines at a power plant in Hami in China's Xinjiang region. The U.S. and other countries have described China’s actions against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region, a key cog in the cleantech supply chain, as a genocidal campaign aimed at erasing an entire culture.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Sep 16, 2024
How China’s dominance of solar and batteries is impacting Japan’s energy transition
China has thrown its industrial might behind cleantech, putting Japan in a tough spot as it weighs human rights concerns against its climate targets.
A truck unloads tons of coal inside a warehouse in Tondo, Metro Manila, in 2016. Independent show ample potential for renewables in Japan and Southeast Asia.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Dec 3, 2023
How Japan's renewable underestimates are impacting Asia's energy transition
Contrary to Japan's stance, independent projections paint a picture in which renewables can power the fast developing region.
Chinese advised not to visit Japan after robbery
A Japanese police officer stands guard at the entrance of the Chinese embassy in Tokyo
Japanese actress Ryoko Yonekura not indicted over drug case
Ryoko Yonekura
Takaichi talks up weak yen even as Japan works to counter currency decline
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who also concurrently serves as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, on Tuesday in Tokyo after a campaign speech for the Lower House election
Victims of Haneda incident previously robbed of ¥95 million
Haneda Airport's parking facility in Tokyo's Ota Ward where an attempted robbery occurred on Friday
Iran says progress made toward U.S. talks despite attack jitters
A demonstrator wears a sticker over her mouth with the words "no execution" during a silent march denouncing the Iranian government's deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters in the Islamic Republic, in Paris on Saturday.
The cost of silence: Japan’s diminishing relevance
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi holds talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Nara on Jan. 13. Once a central diplomatic actor, Japan is increasingly absent as global power rivalries intensify.
Time for a revamped Japan-U.K. strategic architecture
British and Japanese flags are displayed ahead of a welcome ceremony as the HMS Prince of Wales, flagship of the U.K. Carrier Strike Group, arrives at Tokyo International Cruise Terminal in August.
Are foreign nationals actually dodging their medical bills in Japan?
Travelers at Narita Airport. A new policy package from Japan's government put a spotlight on foreign patients not paying medical fees as a major topic to address, but it may not only be a matter of them dodging the bill.
JIP struggles with perception and unity ahead of Lower House election
Leader of the Japan Innovation Party Hirofumi Yoshimura delivers his first campaign speech for the House of Representatives election in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan is considering nuclear subs. But are they worth the costs?
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's diesel-electric-powered Uzushio submarine sails during an international fleet review to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the MSDF's founding, in Sagami Bay, off Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in November 2022.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Ski fields in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture, which rose to national prominence during Japan’s 1980s and early 1990s ski boom and hosted the 1998 Nagano Olympics, remain central to the village’s winter economy.
In Hakuba, getting the tourism balance right
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Japan agency aims for both decarbonization, growth
Japan agency aims for both decarbonization, growth

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